On the Blog

Featured Commentary

An African-American professor who has spent her life building bridges across racial divides questions whether she can continue knowing that four out of five white Evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump.

“Running challenges people to see me from a different perspective.” In the Sikh tradition there is a duty to “hone the spiritual body in the same way that we hone our spiritual selves.” Simran Jeet Singh holds that in his practice as a runner.

How do we avoid cliches and generalizations of entire groups of people? We must tell better stories and more of them by more people who deepen our understanding of the nuances rather than reducing them to a single narrative.

It's easy to blame Donald Trump for the fear and anger in this election cycle; it's much harder to see the deep roots of prejudice in ourselves and in our culture. Parker Palmer seeks a political reckoning beyond the language "us" and "them," toward a language of shared responsibility.

In an information-saturated world, it's the power of poetry and art that helps us transcend a steady stream of depressing news reports and partisan diatribes and process just how badly we’re hurting as a country.

“I cannot even begin to push myself to the extent that God can help me to push myself.” Christy Marvin is the mother of three boys and a mountain runner. She’s won 6 different Alaska mountain races. For Christy, running is a spiritual practice.

Often the most valuable lessons are fathers' teach us are the ones we didn't realize we were learning. A son of Korean immigrants expresses gratitude for a lifetime of tough-love education from his wartime father.

Blame abounds in times of crisis, but this can be a destructive endeavor. Instead, Courtney Martin advocates for emotional generosity to ourselves and each other, and for holding ourselves accountable for bringing about a better reality.

In a jagged spirit of rawness and redemption, Paul Raushenbush remembers the nightclubs where he found community and transcendence and joy. Despite its scarcity, he calls us to answer the mandate of love rather than anger as a redemptive force… because he has no other option.

In pop culture “coolness” is sometimes equated with nonchalance, isolation, and sarcasm. Sharon Salzberg asks us to rethink what it means to be “cool” and argues that kindness and empathy can be the “in” thing.

“You're running often side-by-side, or one person in back of the other, rather than looking somebody in the eyes as you're being vulnerable with them.” John Cary is an architect, a father, and a marathon runner. For him, running is a spiritual practice.